--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...>
wrote:
> Is the sound /a/ considered to be an original phoneme of Proto-Indo-
> European?
As far as I can see the concensus opinion is that it is not. IMO,
this claim is based more on theory than evidence. Hittite has several
words where we'd expect to see an h (either from H2 or H3) but don't.
Hittite aku(w)a "to drink" Lat. aqua
Hittite appa "behind, after" Gr. apo, opi
Hittite arkiya "testicle" Gr. orkhis
Hittite arras "ass" Gr. orros
Hittite pas "swallow" Lat. po:ta:re
There are a couple words that begin with he in Hittite which
shouldn't exist since H1 wasn't preserved.
The only direct evidence comes from Anatolian languages (which aren't
entirely consistent with the laryngeal theory), a few words in
Armenian, and some aspirated sounds in Indo-Aryan. Much of the
theory, IMO, has remained untested and will likely remain so unless
more Anatolian texts are uncovered.
But that's just my heretical viewpoint.